Stories Of Old
by Gimlet
Summary: 18th century.Two young Quincy are on their way to Japan,where they must help in the impending conflict with the shinigami.And there is this girl,not Quincy,nor Shinigami...yet. Meaning all the preconditions for major troubles are present...
1. Chapter 1 Blades and Witches

Stories of Old

**Chapter 1: ****Blades and Witches**

**In my opinion, Rob Zombie's **_**Pussy Liquor**_** and **_**Foxy, Foxy**_** would fit to this chapter. But you know, soundtrack depends on the reader, so…**

**Note: action takes place ****a few years before the Quincy extermination, that would be about 1790.**

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"Brother, we have to leave now!" – a very annoyed silver-haired young man said to his intoxicated sibling. Screamed would be more accurate, for the pub was extremely full today. On an improvised stage in the back three actors were making a swordfight farce out of an Eastern fairy-tale. One of the actors was a young girl, pretty beautiful even with the ridiculously large tin Arabian sword she was wielding. Arabian swords, rhymes in German, with distinct French accent by the girl, Japanese clothing and Chinese martial arts, all mixed up in one small stage in Vienna. That was way too much for the refined tastes of Chester Schneider, who spent half his childhood in London, by the way.

"Get away, Chez, let me behold for a little longer." – the black-haired man snarled.

"Behold what? That absurd multicultural medley? Or the little slut with the big sword? We have important news, Luke, no time to get drunk and stare at the females. Get up!" – _If this pathetic excuse of a twin brother wasn't one of the most talented Quincy I swear I would leave him to rot in peace here_ – Chez said to himself enraged.

"She is magical, you know" – Luke turned his eyes to his brother with a soft smile. Both men had grey eyes, but Luke's were dark and at the same time radiant, like storm clouds rimmed with the rays of the sun. The other pair of light blue-grey orbs glared at him coldly.

"French girls are the pest."

"She is a temPEST…"

"…in a teacup. You are an idiot."

"No, seriously. Look at that spirit pressure. It always gets interesting around that sort of people." – Luke riveted his eyes back on the stage.

"Now I see. So you're here because you're bored. Then I have good news for you! We have to cross the whole world, enter a closed for outsiders country and take part in an impending huge conflict with creatures from the spirit world, impudent enough so to call themselves "gods." **How cool is that, brother?**" – he emphasized each word of the last sentence.

"Well you could have started with that, Chez, instead of teasing me around." – Luke stood up with a jump and sat on the table, drinking up his bottle of wine. – "Although, 'impending' means it's not sure, doesn't it."

"I thought you had a taste for uncertain things, Luke." – his brother said wrlyly.

"You know me too well. We shall go now." – with these words, the not-so-similar twins left the pub, walking past a group of rather enraged men and an angry looking woman dressed in pink.

"Seems we got out just in time" – Chez noticed, after the pub exploded in loud screams.

"Yeah, I'll miss all the fun again." – the black-haired man smiled jokingly and turned around, just to see how two of the mentioned above men dragged the kicking and screaming young actress out. The angry woman trailed dragged her pink skirts behind them with the grace of a goose. She squealed like one too: "Witch! Witch!" Luke sighed and gave his brother a dazzling smile: "I guess this is the call of destiny, bro." – and he ran back.

"Sheesh. Fine, I'll wait for you back in the pub." –Chez said, smoothing the non-existent wrinkles on his flawless white suit.

--

An hour later, Chez was sitting in the now quite quiet bar, legs stretched, ankles crossed, sipping a third mug of Glühwein, and bored to death by the incessant jabbering of the two actors, who were really good company while they were still knocked out.

"Honestly, her scripts are brilliant, but she brings nothing but trouble! Doing weird things to people, no wonder we're chased by superstitious fools everywhere." – Mr. Moron (as Chez called him) prattled.

"Witch-hunting is in history, but scared people don't really give a damn about reason, they just come furious and scream "why, you tricked my baby, what did you do to my baby." She usually just makes sick people feel better, you know. Or bad people feel sick. Now that I think about it… it's weird indeed…" – Reinhardt Retard (another nickname by Chez) fell silent, obviously trying to make use of his brains, but, woe, the other one continued the chattering.

"And remember that time, when a strong wind came from out of nowhere and Lumina got so pale and told us to run? Man, I got really scared, the ground was shaking and everything…"

"Don't tell me you fell for that?! I mean, it was an earthquake, did you actually believe that there was some monster there? She never said that either."

"Yeah, but…"

"Gentlemen! Calm down. Here comes your witch." – _Is Luke holding her hand?! No, no, no_… "So what took you so long, brother?" – Chez asked ironically. – "I doubt those blokes demanded more than three minutes of **our** precious time. Or was it the woman the dangerous one?"

"Yes, I guess you can say that. I'm sure you imply the wrong woman, though." – The grey eyes flashed with mischief and the girl next to him blushed a little. She took her hand out of his grasp and ran to her colleagues.

"You okay? How's the head, Reinhardt?"

"His head is hard and you know it." – Mr. Moron said quite harshly. "Just as well as you know that the problem is you."

"Excuse me?"

"You… are no longer wanted in our art troupe, mademoiselle." – the man said pompously.

"WHAT?!"

"You can pick up your baggage in the morning, if you want to. Farewell, Lumina!"

"WHAAAT!?!? You guys are NOTHING without me, inept, stupid, wretched, feckless trash! Come back here!"

The taller man made a waving gesture without even looking back. The girl was now bright red and tense as a string. She rushed after her ex-colleagues with clenched fists, but Luke caught her dress and stopped her. His face was illuminated by a smile Chez knew way too well. It was the "Luke-gets-an-idea" type of smile. Therefore, a very dangerous one.

"Lumina, heh. What a name." – Chez stated dryly.

"It's a stage name, blockhead."

"How did you call me?! You…"

"Hey, no fighting, lady and gentleman. Finish your drink, Chez, I thought you said we were in a hurry."

"Indeed."

"Huh…Let me treat you a drink, Luke Schneider, for saving me." – Lumina said. - "It won't take much of your time." – "Hey, Franz. Since those two clowns left my troupe, you can give the cash from tonight's performance to me."

"Sure, mademoiselle Lumina, but you know, with the trouble and broken chairs I'll have to cut that in half…" –_Stupid slut, buying drinks when she should be at home knitting._

"What… damn… Fine. But it is still enough to treat my saviors with something fancy?"

"Well, depends on what you call "fancy". We have…"

"…It's not necessary." – Luke stepped out. – "Besides, you're coming with us, so you can pay back later."

"I'm what?!"

"She's what?!!?"

"She's coming with us, Chez. You can do that now you're out of the troupe, can't you, Lumina?"

"Well, yes theoretically, but…"

"No "buts". I'm not asking you out of pity or lust. Just make sure you take all the Japanese costumes when you pack. And the make-up."

_Not to believe in__, brother actually has a point there._

"The costumes are authentic, you know. They cost a fortune…" – Lumina said. Then an evil smirk shone on her face. "Those idiots will be furious! Ha! That's what they deserve. Fine. I'll get the clothes while they're asleep and I'll meet you thereafter." _– I hope you are not some psycho-killers, but even so, you'll learn I have my tricks._ – "I'm not quite sure I want to know why you need those, though."

--

At 3 AM, Chez and Luke were standing on the bridge where the meeting was supposed to take place, resting their elbows on the railing and staring in the black water.

"So you need to get laid or what?" – Chez asked with utter annoyance.

"Nope. I really think she is interesting. And pretty strong too, although she doesn't seem to realize it. If this girl stays with us, she might help with both entering Japan and opposing the shinigami. Because, I don't want to discourage uncle Ishida, but I don't think us humans stand a chance if it comes to brute power. I don't really see the point either. Speaking of which… are you sure something is really happening there? Or just uncle Ishida is getting paranoid?"

"I'm not sure. But I think it's serious. Death gods here are more liberal and still sometimes trouble us Quincy a lot… My point is – we must go. We owe his to uncle after all."

A short, tense pause followed. Than Luke turned his back to the railing and the river, cleaned his throat and smiled playfully to his serious brother. "You know, I wouldn't refuse to get laid either."

Chez looked at his brother with his left eyebrow lifted. Than he looked up to the starry sky and smiled.

"Of course you wouldn't."

The bright laughter of the siblings rang through the night chill.

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Please review!:) That would make me so very happy. I promise there will be some of Tite Kubo's characters in next chapters, just wait patiently till we go to Soul Society…**

**If you wonder how do these OC-s look like, Chez is ****pretty much like Ishida Ryuken (and his ancestor, after all) with longer hair, while Luke is… well Luke must look more like Sakuya Kira from Angel Sanctuary, but with grey eyes and black hair. Chez and Luke are twins and their faces are identical, but as for colours and personalities… well, you saw how it is.**

**So I hope you enjoyed this. I know I did :D**


	2. Chapter 2 Reise, Reise

Chapter 2 – "Reise, Reise"

**Disclaimers: "Reise, Reise" is ****a beautiful album by Rammstein. Quincy is a race in Tite Kubo's Bleach. The rationalizations on them and on the other spirit issues, however, are mine.**

**You may try listening to "Death On Two Legs" by Queen ****or The Fallen Priest By Freddie Mercury & Monserat Caballe for this chapter. **

**My apologies to anyone who actually plays the piano…

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_A piano. They have a piano on the darn boat.__ Oh, well..._

The young woman sat by the instrument and played a few notes. She looked around to make sure nobody was listening and continued improvising. After fifteen minutes she was already so consumed by the exquisite sound of the marvelous instrument, that the appearance of another pair of hands that added to the music almost made her fall from the stool. Slowing down the tempo of the etude, she turned around to see the platinum blond Chez with a light smile. "I hope you don't mind ^.^ I just couldn't resist, dear lady Lumina."

_Such an arrogant guy. This sarcasm is killing me!_ "Not a bit ^.^" – she slowly regained the normal rhythm. Chez was actually very skilled and improvised beautiful figures which turned the otherwise simple playful melody into a fully bloomed and alive piece of art. His smug smile remained planted on his face, annoying her even more as she realized that the notes coming out of her fingers indeed may be the backbone of the melody, but aren't it's core anymore and not even close to it's character. She was simply defining the tempo. _Very well then. Eat this._ She quickened the rhythm to the limits of her own capabilities, turning the mood from "calm dance of two lovers under the moonlight" to "the racing heartbeats of the toreador and the bull." His face remained unchanged as his hands slid over the keys. The girl, on the other hand, turned a pretty bright shade of red.

"You're out of tune, Chez!" – a deep voice exclaimed jokingly as Luke Schneider entered the spacious restroom and sat on one of the couches, spinning the chain of a cross-shaped medallion. The music stopped.

The blood quickly drained from the girl's face. "I'm the one out of tune." – she muttered in a low voice, her eyes fixed on the carpet.

"He knows that, darling. But for unknown and incomprehensible reasons, the man is attracted to your bony figure and won't insult you until he reveals it completely." – Chez stated.

Lumina, who was again red as a forest strawberry stood up, threw a demolishing glare at Chester and went out on the deck with the remnants of her dignity.

"I advise you to keep your mouth shut, Chez… Unless you intend to sing along." – With these words Luke sat on the now free second stool and took up a playful sailor's tune.

--

Lumina leaned against the parapet and gazed over the water, trying to overcome her shame and anger.

_Three weeks! Three weeks and I still have no idea why I follow those bastards all along. __They took my precious Japanese requisite and now, aside from Luke's aspirations to lure me in his cabin by night, they cut me off completely! Who the hell do they think they are?! I, as one of noble origin, will not allow such attitude. I'll make them tell me what is this all about, or I'm leaving! …Although… we must reach land again for that last option… Curses. _

For what she knew, they were now on their way to India, where they had some relatives to pick up. After that, they would probably go to Japan (therefore they needed the clothing), but how did they intend to enter the island country whose sakoku restrictions were revived thanks to Matsudaira Sadanobu –san's lovely reforms. #(A/N: check Wikipedia if curious.) Why would they need to do such a stupid thing and what was her part was beyond Lumina's understanding. Nevertheless, the farther from Europe (and France) she went, the better. She knew sometimes revolutions were necessary, but…

_But __if the people wish do behead me along with the whole of my kin, than I'm leaving the game, thank you very much. Then again… something tells me that if I keep following those two, I'll be riding for a bloody fall. Oh, well, perhaps I'll "disappear" in India?_

_**Then you'll be missing the thrill of the mystery with those two**__**. Or you're tired of solving puzzles? Even when puzzle includes a handsome grey-eyed person who also looks interested in you**__?_

_Also? I'__m not interested, leave alone thrilled! Smug bad-boy wannabies with a superiority complex are not quite my type, stupid inner voice._

_**Fine. You're the one who's ashamed to remember her own dreams, after all. But I'm sure you do want to find out what are those blue arrows and sparks you saw that night.**_

_I bet those were just__ part of a dream I remember (see, re-mem-ber, duh). Or these guys are conjurers, than everything would make sense._

_**Your rationalizations are utterly boring, you know.**_

Yes, inner voices. Lumina was happy as long as there was only one of them in her head. Well, "happy" is not quite correct, "grateful" would be more appropriate.

--

"So what is it that you like about the one with the idiotic stage name?"

"Well, first of all, she's a namesake."

"…"

"If I have to be serious…Don't you see the red aura?"

"When she blushes?"

"No, come on, seriously. She has that red aura of… ancient magic or something. Perhaps with such spirit potential she'll become a Death God when she dies, but for now she's on our side. Can you imagine what will happen if we train like a Quincy a soul like that?"

"One hell of a mess? If she's that close to a death god (which she isn't, I can smell such from miles away) than she wouldn't be able to use our Quincy tools, they are to be used solely by humans, thank goodness."

"She is human, just not from a Quincy bloodline. Don't you see? This person could help our kind understand ourselves better. We have no idea what powers make those tools work. Are those physical, thus having something to do with the bloodline, or spiritual?"

"They are physical, of course. No people unrelated to our ancestors could ever use even the simplest bow."

"No people with spirit pressure that was actually noticeable ever tried to."

"High spiritual capacity is also transmitted by blood, as weird as it is. Look, you're only looking for excuses to keep her around. Be it as a lover, pet or experimental subject. Just decide what is it that you want, ok?"

"… I'm not keeping human beings as pets, you know."

"But as lab rats? Look, Luke. If you actually feel something for this girl (who you know for the unbelievably long period of three weeks), you will leave her in India. If you don't, I'll know that she's just part of your grand project for exploring the soul."

"You make it sound like I'm some kind of a monster."

"Don't worry, Luke, that's perfectly okay with me. It doesn't make you less of my brother. Just less of a human being."

#(Author plays Soundscape To Ardor by Sagisu Shirou.)

--

Luke went out on the deck to find a disturbed and nervous female, who hurried to reach him with a menacing look in her green eyes. "I had my time and thought things over. It's time for you to give some answers."

His heart skipped a beat. "We'll need some time for this. …And something to drink."

--

Interesting thing, the soul. Basically it has about three important layers. One basic, called "the frame" represents the skeleton of the body. A second one, "the heart" is like the flesh and blood. The third and most supreme layer, "the higher ego" is like the mind that controls the body, although such comparisons are poor as a whole. The names of the layers are also relative.

With the human soul, the upper two layers are inseverably united. Naturally, this doesn't mean that a human being does not make a difference between his/her heart and mind. It only means that the "alter ego" is not a separate entity, like it is with death gods. With hollows, on the other hand, only "the frame" is present. Without "heart" and "higher ego", the frame loses its human form and becomes distorted to various animalistic figures.

Normally, with both humans and shinigami, the three layers are constantly shifting and between them various types of energy flow, thus we have "life force", "reiatsu" and so on.

There are also a few "junctions" of the different energy streams, such as "the chain link." There are countless "veins" and "pores" for the streams, which can be controlled by spirit power. Theoretically, to any extent.

Basically, a shinigami is an upgraded human soul, in which the "higher ego" has it's own form and physical manifestation as zanpakuto. It is still linked to the original soul and both can evolve simultaneously.

The hollows are interesting with two things. 1st: what happens do "the heart" with the hollowization. Does it disappear or it dissolves in the surrounding matter (and thus can be restored theoretically)? 2nd What happens to the "higher ego"? It does not disappear, but the link between it and "the frame" breaks. Therefore, the ego, the self is present as part of the hollow's soul, but it has no control over it's actions, unless under exceptional circumstances. (A/N: see Inoue's brother). Or unless someone builds an artificial link in stead of the heart. (A/N – well, You-Know-Who is on the move here…)

So those three kinds of souls are generally different stages of one and the same thing, therefore they can turn into one another or even be combined. The processes that would enable that however, are still unknown, as are many of the processes and principles behind the functions of the soul. And curiosity… curiosity is a mighty power. And a dangerous one.

--

"There is one more thing I must share with you. We have this ship from a friend, but he only lent it in order for us to take it to India. However, we intend to get rid of the crew there and take aboard our family members. Then we go to Japan, where we will be "adopted" by our relatives and go under the name of "Ishida." If things go bad there, we all might lose our lives. That is why… That is why it's best for you to stay or elsewhere on the road. But India seems best. We have two months till then. I'll be able to get to know you and… your soul better, and teach you some techniques that might help you understand yourself and the world around you, that might explain the unexplainable things which have bothered you throughout your life. Or you can leave in two days when we will be landing again for a few hours."

"Well, at least now I know why you don't want me to leave, Mr. Schneider. I'll play along, don't worry. Just make sure those "techniques" of yours are worth."

"Don't you ever doubt this. Shall we go out on the deck? The sun is about to set. It's going to be quite a sight, today was cloudy."

"I guess we could use some fresh air."

_This person… Beneath the playful surface he is so cool and calculating. __He is always looking somewhere far away, making any perceptive person but his brother feel like an obstacle to his view or worse - like an inanimate object to his attention. Than why… why in the world do I feel him so close to me? Why do I see myself in those deep gray pits he has for eyes… Eyes that entice me to seek further, deeper. Eyes inviting to a private magical performance that can bring me to a life more real than I've ever imagined… or kill me. Eyes deep as my own.

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**So… sorry for the annoying author notes and for making you wait for lovely familiar Soul Society**** issues. Thanks a bunch to my lovely reviewer Traitor-Hero. I'm still waiting for _your_ next chapter ::grin::**

**Funny thing about reviews, they can actually make a person's day brighter. Yes, that's a not-so-delicate hint. :))**

**About the "soul issues" – I'm pretty sure that must be the way Urahara Kisuke reasoned before he created the Hogyoku. If I'm lucky (and motivated, lol), I might get there in a while.**** Buh-bye!**


	3. Chapter 3 Fight Like A Beast Ray

**Chapter 3**

**Fight like a beast/ Ray**

**Bleach universe and characters belong to Kubo Tite.**

**Lumina, Luke, and Chez are mine.  
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**Hey guys, hope you did not think I was dead. I never gave up on those two fanfics, blame it on the sloth… which must be killed, by the way. ****This chapter was half-written for, what, almost a year. ****Shame on me. But at least the chapter is long. And I'm getting really close to the Soul Society part…**

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_**Meanwhile in Soul Society…**_

"I don't approve what you did to that animal, Mayuri-san."

"This one was a rare specimen… How could I have resisted?" – The tall masked man gave an innocent look.

"You should have." – Urahara Kisuke, visibly young and beardless and frowned in an unusual, serious grimace - "Look, come up to my room later? I'm working on a new project and if you're interested…"

"You're starting to get annoying, you know. I have a book to read. About the bounto, see. If you've heard of them, that is. Too bad that they were almost exterminated; I would love to see one… cut him open…"

"He-he…" – Jeez… - "Sure I've read about them… I think it was cruel to make such a race and to take away the opportunity to evolve from them…"

"We cannot be sure they are all infertile till Soul Society has captured every single one." – In a few months I'll have finished the Academy and I'll have the possibility to deal with interesting subjects personally… ^.^ - " – Kurotsuchi rolled his green eyes, soon to become golden. - "So… weren't you going to "train" with that mysterious girlfriend of yours, _sempai_?" – He didn't even bother to hide the irony in the honorific.

Urahara laughed forcedly – "Mayuri-saaan, you're so fast to send me away, do I bore you?"

Kurotsuchi did not bless him with an answer, so Kisuke went off to meet Yoruichi at their secret playground. He blushed a little, thinking of the way Mayuri named her as his "mysterious girlfriend." Last time this "girlfriend" kicked his ass so badly that it still hurt. No more making fun out of her noble lineage, then… Oh well, this time he was going to have his revenge.

Then again, Mayuri really managed to make him feel uneasy today. The things he did to that weird… was it a squirrel? It's kind of hard to determine the species by looking at it inside out… and Kisuke hadn't seen even half of those things. With all the respect he held for the masked man's brains, this was out of line. Nothing good could come out of this tendency. The blond boy stopped his flash-steps on a random roof and stared at the sky. He was pretty sure which the next target of his colleague and… friend (?) next target would be. Soon both of them will have graduated and would take part of the affairs of Soul Society. Right now, those were aimed at a place far away. Beyond the firmament, in the so-called "real" world, a group of humans had evolved on their own. Strong will and the hidden force of nature gave them the power to fight off hollows on their own. Kisuke respected that and found it totally interesting, but he wasn't surprised that those in the Court of Pure Souls were concerned – such a phenomenon threatened the absolute authority of the Death Gods over the human race. Some shinigami just couldn't live with the thought they might not be the ultimate, most flawless spiritual creatures in this universe. Yoruichi-san had told him countless stories about the arrogance of some high-ups. As a matter of fact, she found pretty much any noble except herself boring, spruced up and annoying. He, personally, did not really care about this or anything else, unless life actually presented him with something interesting. Regarding this, he was very similar to Kurotsuchi – they both were irreparably doomed to explore any new thing that appears in their reach… and if none did, they created it themselves.

His thoughts strayed to his latest project – new, better, mod souls with highly suppressed personality which would pull the spirit out of the body. Many shinigami had reported of dead souls unwilling to leave their bodies, so that would solve this problem.

The very minute Kisuke's train of thought reached his work, his face returned to its usual expression – one of a baby boy staring mesmerized at the washing machine.

--

Somewhere near the coast of India…

"Lumina, darling. Wake up. Wake up, I said. Wake up." – A rather annoyed Luke knocked on her cabin's door. – "Aw, come on. Wake up. Waaake uup. Wakeupwakeupwakeup. Damn."

"Maybe if you hadn't called her to "help" with the _last_ three bottles of French wine she would have woken up much more easily, idiot" – his brother stated flatly. – "Wake up, sugar-pie, if you care to stay alive!"

"Oh my god, Chez, that was a perfect rhyme" – Luke mocked him. – "You have the heart of a lyricist."

A hoarse voice came out from behind the door: "Alright, alright, coming." – the blonde opened the door, blessing the siblings with her radiant morning visage of red eyes and disheveled hair. – "What was that about 'staying alive'? We sinking or something?"

Luke grabbed her elbow and hastened her to the brightly sunlit deck, where she blinked confused.

"Remember" – Chez started – "that hollow my brilliant brother here took from our one-month so-called African safari?"

"That unstable huge thing he somehow managed to capture in a very small cage?"

"Yeah, the one that could hide its reiatsu, the one that would have killed him if it weren't for me and that half naked shaman. The one I told him to kill, not examine. The one that…"

"Yes, yes, that one, thank you, brother. I'm afraid she has run out of her cage."

"It's a she?" – the thought of a hungry hollow somehow made Lumina lose all of the morning drowsiness in a second. The morning edginess was unscathed, however. – "Wow, wait, did you peek under its mask or something? Cause for all I know there was no skirt to peek under."

"It must have been the awful short-temper and the screaming that proved its gender." – the white haired brother implied knowingly. – "Anyway, we should spread and find her before she kills off our crew."

"Good…. Erm, how do we do that?"

"Well, you go left, I go right, Luke climbs up to the mast."

"Find. How do we find her."

"Follow the screaming" – Chez whispered in mock fatalism.

---

_Now, now, keep in mind what Luke told you about reiatsu, spirit energy, spirit threads… no, hollows don't have spirit threads…or do they? Oh, damn it. Concentrate, idiot._

As a matter of fact, Lumina hated all her names, especially the pernickety stage alias "Lumina." Moreover, "idiot" was so much more appropriate in situations like this.

_No screaming yet, that is good. Now. Wood. Wooden ship. Wood emanates warm energy with the colour of champagne. Wind. The most used by the Quincy element. Light, electric blue. Wavy, undistorted lines. Humans. Threads, spirit threads. That thing is hungry, it will seek them… Be the hollow. Find the threads. Seek the sick. Seek the weak._

**_But weak isn't tasty, darlin'._**

_Oh, shit. It will come after one of us. Is it dumb enough to pick the strongest one…_

_… Or will it choose me._

Her eyes widened as she noticed the distortion in the wind at what was no more than 4 meters on her left.

_Hiding, huh._

Lumina prepared for a fight (which means she clenched her fists and thanked god that after last night's guzzle she went to bed directly with the hakama she trained with instead of the usual long sleeping shirt.)

"Even if they don't sense you yet, they'll notice the change in my reiatsu. Thus hiding is pointless." – the blonde tried to sound menacing, but then remembered the hollow only understood zulu.

_Less lip, more whip then._

The thing understood it was noticed and slowly broke her disguise. She was very much like a winged lioness with snake for a tail. So there were two scull heads, one of a vicious carnivore and one of a sneaky reptile – and both were staring at the young woman with disdain…and appetite.

---

_"Shit. She found her first. Hurry up, Chez"_ – Luke thought while using Hirenkyaku to reach the fight.

But his brother was busy with the crew. The men believed the threesome were jugglers, friends of the noble owner of the ship. They also thought that the sekki-stone cage was for a lion.

"None of us is afraid of the big kitty, mister. We're sure we can handle this even better than you and Mr. Luke." – the captain spoke.

"I do not doubt your skills, I'm just saying this is not your job, but ours. Please go inside and wait until we catch the cat."

"That's true, sir Eisenmann isn't paying us to handle their pets." – a voice came.

"….Fine then. All to the cabins."

Chez waited with seeming patience until no sailor could see him before he used Hirenkyaku.

_Don't make me clean up your mess, brother._

_--_

She tried to form an arrow, like Luke showed her, but failed. The blue light came out as a lump so she used it accordingly and aimed at the bigger head. That very second the blue lightball was about to hit the scull, the snake-headed tail whipped the air and swallowed it. Lumina could feel a subtle change in the hollows reiatsu. It was growing.

"Shit"

A flood of real arrows came from above, raining over the beast.

"No, Luke, try to avoid the second…" – Lumina's cry was drowned in the wild growl of satisfaction coming from the lioness, whose snake-head had swallowed most of the arrows. The hollow got significantly bigger.

"… head" – Lumina finished her sentence bitterly, but then noticed a few cuts on the hollow's skin and the black blood dripping on the deck.

"Move the hell away from there, darling!"

"Concentrate your hits and aim far from the tail, you idiot!"

"Did you say aim for the tail, love?"

"No!!! You…" – she jumped over the beast and next to Luke, aiming to hit him.

"What the hell do you think you're do…" –he started, but had to dodge another hit, this time from the huge paw of the hollow.

"My, oh my, now the friggin' thing won't fit back in the cage, will it." – a sarcastic voice came out.

"CHEZ!" – the other two exclaimed.

Again she got the chance of observing the astonishing harmony between the two siblings. Luke pushed her not-so-gently on the deck, warning her to stay out for good and they attacked the monstrous thing together. Each one went for a wing. Chez planted a strange rapier-like blue weapon deep under the left blade-bone off the lioness, causing her to scream majestically. Then he moved on to distract the snake-head, allowing Luke to clip five shiny silver amulets on the other wing. Luke jumped away and screamed:

"Chez, hurry, it will blow!"

"O, no" – she whispered, noticing that the silver-haired brother was now caught in a mortal hug and dropped his rapier The weapon slid close to her and, without thinking much, she took it and ran to the beast, while Luke jumped up to prevent the tail from killing Chester. She had to face the bigger head, though, and managed to jump over it, with the intent to stab the beast at the base of its tail. It wasn't until then when she noticed that the rapier was now bladeless and useless.

"What the fuck?!"

She barely managed to keep herself on the back of the beast who tossed around in anger with muscles and spine struggling under the skin in turmoil. Then she focused whatever energy was left around her palm and hit the backbone, and, most surprisingly, broke it. The tail fell down motionless and the mask of the second head cracked, but Chez got bruised pretty hard too. Luke took him and jumped away, screaming:

"IDIOT, RUN!"

_"Shit"_ – she thought and saw the hollow hole of the creature right behind herself. Luckily, it was huge so she managed to slide through it and escape the claws. No more than a second afterwards, the right wing of the hollow evaporated in a powerful explosion, the blast of which threw all three of them a few meters away. Lumina crushed against the board and broke a hand, but Luke managed to secure his brother from further bruises.

--

The captain rushed on the deck, all red from anger.

"What the hell was THAT! If you damage that ship… "

"The ship is fine, captain" – Chez noticed –"Unlike us three. Could you ask your men to bring warm water and towels?"

The man stood dumbfounded at the center of the explosion. Millions of really small scratches cut through the wood of the deck starting from the point he was standing at and reaching until three to five meters. Apart from that, the ship was indeed undamaged.

"But… where is the cat, Mr. Schneider?"

"Gone fishing. I suppose."

--

"Your sense of humor is still so enticingly dull, Chez." –Luke stated.

"Well, thank you for the kind words, sir…. Aaaargh… careful with that bruise, idiot."

"Let me see that." – Lumina intervened.

"Shut up, I just fixed your arm."

"I'll be using my eyes, darling. I would like to know what the hell makes spirit particles so harmful."

"Well, that's a long story." – Luke noticed. – "Most of the damage comes from the killing intent, but there are also…"

"Shut up, I'm trying to concentrate here." – She stared mesmerized at the microscopic spirit swirls on the wound edges. They were green and disappeared quickly.

"They disappear because that thing is dead now." – Chez stated.

"Oh."

"Sweetheart, I have no problem with you staring at me as if I were a test subject. Don't forget I've grown up with Luke. But, if you don't mind, we all should rest now."

"Oh… sorry."

".... Yeah, and by the way, thank you for saving me."

--

"Once again. We shall do it tonight as we land in Kozhikode. The others must be waiting there. Will your little experiment help us?"

"I'm pretty sure she will. Don't call her like that, will ya?" "Hm. Would that attitude mean you actually like the girl and you'll leave it there?"

"She is… interesting, but not very useful for my studies alive… So yes, we're leaving her with the rest of the Williams family."

Chez grinned.

--

Luke stood up on the deck, staring at the nearing land. She agreed to the plan. Didn't look too happy about them leaving her behind, though. Well, it was for her own good. Getting to Japan would be hard enough and a war… She was not prepared to fight with shinigami. On the other hand… with that pace he could bet she was about to get better than half their reinforcements from India. Good for nothing (except for their plantations) aristocratic offspring… That person… Not only she had that strange spirit power, so similar to the shinigami's yet so human… But she also shared his interests… And..._Oh forget it. We're going to war. And I don't really want to experiment on her…_ _"If she fights with us and dies, you would be able to examine her body and find out if it is of any significance for the spirit." That's what Chez said. That bastard probably wanted to find out the source of my affection._

Luke clenched his fists. _Take that, brother, I'm human after all. I want her to live almost as much as I want to protect the Quincy… Or maybe just as much… Or even… Damn it, can't believe my thoughts went that confused. Damn those sunsets. And the wars. And the women. And the shinigami… And… This is getting annoying._

_--_

Later that evening Lumina stood on the coast with the whole 15-member crew of the ship. It was anything but a pleasant situation, but it had to be done.

"Okay, gentlemen, sir Chester has ordered me to treat you to your heart's content. I have no idea about the situation in India, but I know that: wherever there are sailors, there are pubs. So shall we go?"

"Aye." – said the captain unenthusiastically. – "Sir Chester is generous, but he could come himself instead of leaving a… lady go to a pub. Those aren't places for women. With all our respect."

"Look, mate, the brothers had some work to do before they part with you. I would prefer to browse the spices in the market, but here I am, dressed up like a boy, so pretend I'm your nephew or something and take us to the most disreputable place in Kozhikode."

Reluctant as they were, the men quickly relaxed after they entered the place and realized how sweet the food and drinks are when on someone else's account. Ray's task was rather easy: to pick up an inn relatively far from the ship, to keep an eye on their count and position towards the ship… and to look extremely surprised, sad and furious about that very ship missing. One thing vexed her, though. It wouldn't be all that hard to look sad or even mad.

_They take me away from my home, make me fight with monstrous spirits, take all my requisite and leave me in India (?) to be a French teacher of some spoilt little pest named… what was it again, Timmy? Then again… I didn't really have a home, being a teacher here will be a thousand times better than starving with two talentless idiots on the streets, and the time I spent on that ship was… undoubtedly the best part of my life._ _I am going to miss the two bastards._ _I am going to miss Luke._ _Damn it._ _There is no place for me in their war, right? I don't want to die for a cause that does not concern me at all, right?_ _Then why do I feel like the only thing I really care about is… to go back there…_

_--_

She stood up with her glass. - "To the mysterious ways of the providence. Bottoms up!"

The men looked as if she were a rare and disgusting specimen from the bottom of the bottom of the sea, but they accepted the toast nevertheless. Than Lumina took out a thick wad of money and banged it against the table in front of the captain. - "There is something that I have to do. I trust you'll spend wisely. Goodbye."

"Wait… are you leaving alone?"

"Don't worry, I'm a juggler after all, right?"

"Right…"

_Thank god they were already drunk_ – she thought while running like hell to the ship. _Shit, was it necessary to rain?!_ _But I have tomake it! Run! Faster!_

_--_

Chez sighed. - "Luke, come in, now, will ya. We have to introduce the newcomers to the situation. Not to mention that it rains..."

"I like the rain… more than having to explain things to other idiots than yourself. So this task is entirely yours."

"…"

The older brother shrugged and returned inside. Luke stayed on the deck, staring at the coast. Eight, ten, fifteen meters away… The rain dripped from his frowned face and his hair. Twenty five meters. He closed his eyes, reluctant to look at the lights of the city. The cold rain washed away the scent of Kozhikode: of spices, tobacco and heat. It washed away the warmth of his last vague handshake with Lumina. The small streams left him blank and cold, erasing even the anticipation of war and death. It was almost a pleasure. A hundred and fifty meters away. He opened his eyes and suddenly felt a familiar reiatsu surging.

"Lumina?"

Indeed, a small figure ran down the harbour. She hesitated for a second, than she jumped.

"Idi…" – Luke started but than saw she did not fall in the water. It seemed his lessons finally made it through: she was able to use spirit power to raise herself above the water. One, two, three steps… She was so close that he could see her even in the darkness. Than she fell with a sound splash.

"Lumina! Damn it!" – he jumped in the water without second thought. It came a few seconds later, while he was trying to follow the splashing, coughing and cursing which indicated her location. – _Was it necessary for you to make your comeback so dramatically and have me save you…._

"Luke, thanks… I'm so sorry I fell…You didn't have to…"

"Don't move, I'm going to raise us now."

Easily said than done, though. One material body was hard enough to raise, two did tend to impossible. So he created a light blue "step" in the air just above the water surface.

"Quickly."

Lumina jumped and he followed her after a few seconds.

Once out of the water, they now stood up motionless, wet and not knowing what to say.

_I knew the deal was different, but… I couldn't stay there._

_I'm so glad you came._

_Were you… were you waiting in the rain… for me?_

_I had the strangest feeling…_

_I would have missed you… Please stop looking at me so intensely…_

_How come your eyes shine, is the moonlight all that bright…_

"T..thank you. I… d..decided that you losers might need some help with b..beating up those shinigami…"

"Yeah… But you 'll be needing a better battle alias."

"True."

The seconds went by with the sound of the raindrops.

Than she took a deep breath. – "It's somehow cold and…"

Luke stepped towards her and held her tight. - "We're going in in a second." - He gently turned her face up against his own.

"Your name is Ray. Because you shine so brightly."

---

**Whoaa! Finally! Finally I was able to write down this scene. And I shall never ever again use any other name than Ray. I'll be glad to receive any friendly feedback on this chapter, remarks on style, punctuation and anything else gone wrong are highly appreciated. Thanks a lot to everyone who reviewed the last chapters, including my anonymous reviewer. Those words made me so happy (and so ashamed of the monstrous delay… But I swear such words are very motivating. :3**


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